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WARNING: 10 day trial SCAM
Artek
Member UncommonPosts: 62
Seems like SOE is willing to sink even lower with this latest way to get cash out of us.
I have installed and set up the 10 day MO trial. Through the subscription process it asks you for your credit card details, as many other MMO's do. Generally this is done to verify the players age.
Once you enter the CC details into your account at MO, the 10 day trial is gone (thats right, no free play for you) and you start subscription straight away.
I can understand them wanting your CC details etc, but why in the world would anyone want to give up the free 10 days, and start paying straight away.
So Sony might have gotten one off payment of $15 from me this time, but lost a lot more in terms of my subscriptions to all their other offering (as I am cancelling all of them). Once again, Thank you Sony
** Reality.sys corrupted - Unable to start Universe **
Comments
No, you need to contact them about it. It's probably a mistake (they excel at making them). Get your money back, or get the trial. Don't let them just get away with it. There are already too many people doing that.
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As ye SOE, so shall ye weep.
You don't have to enter your CC details. I started the trial without doing so just fine. Though admittedly the setup was a bit confusing when it came to that point.
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In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on August 13, 2008.
Yeah, already opened a ticket and the TSR's comment was - It clearly states that if you do the CC thing it will cancel you trial and start your subscription.
Hardly CLEARLY, otherwise I wouldnt do it. And besides who would want to cancel the free 10 days anyway, the CC charge should go through after 10 days is up.
** Reality.sys corrupted - Unable to start Universe **
** Reality.sys corrupted - Unable to start Universe **
I wouldnt call it a scam, actually. Its more a problem with your "click-click and dont read" mentality.
The message clearly said that your trial was activated and that if you wanted to fully subscribe to the game you should press the "continue" button (which you did, apparently).
However, they simply shouldnt have placed that button there - who on earth would want to instantly subscribe to a game for which he/she just activated his/her trial account...
Check your facts before ranting.
Oh... unless you subscribed to the TRIAL wrong and hit the button that is clearly documented as an 'immediate subscription' if you bother reading.
If you didn't read the print before hitting the button then that's YOUR fault. Not SOE's. Honestly... it's your credit card... you're telling us that you don't pay attention to the screens prompted to read when you are giving people your credit card number?
Pray you never run across a real scam.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
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Still in: A couple Betas
followed by
http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screen29ln.jpg
That is not "clearly documented as an 'immediate subscription'".
If alot of people are complaining, whos fault is it that it is unclear? Its not the customers & still cannot find any kind of confirmation BEFORE charging your account like every reputable e-commerce there is.
I bet the customers outside of the us will be very happy to make an international call for cancelling the subscription (which was made online).
Screw sony, they seem to be the type of company that would do this, i dont think it was a mistake on there part, i think it was purposly done, but i can't tell you the straight answer, i will never play another SoE game, i played EQ for 5 years and thats around $900.00 they made off me =/
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-- xpaladin
[MMOz]
AC1/2, AO, DAoC, EQ1/2, SoR, SWG, UO, WAR, WoW
I dont care what you say, it is NOT clear. During the sign up it says:
You are currently on promotional subscription (this si right after you put your key in). If you would like to continue with your adventures, you will need to subscribe.
The only button from that page is CONTINUE and it takes you to the CC page.
If I am already subscribed on the 10 day, why isnt there, exit button too?
Certainly BAIT and Switch on this one!
** Reality.sys corrupted - Unable to start Universe **
Oh d here is a reply from SOE when you request refund:
We apologize for the inconvenience caused to you. We appreciate your request for a refund, however we will not be able to process your request as all pre-paid fees are non-refundable as explained in Section 5 of the End User License Agreement.
Nice - they got my $15, but will never get another cent from me
** Reality.sys corrupted - Unable to start Universe **
I actually signed up for the 10 day trial yesterday after my post and totally have to agree with this sentiment. There is NO opt-out option at all, just a continue button. It is also not apparantly obvious that you can close the window at that point. In fact, there is no mention of being able to do so! I was slightly worried that closing the window might foul up the application process and I am certainly not a novice computer user.
This is a horrible and VERY shady design.
-- xpaladin
[MMOz]
AC1/2, AO, DAoC, EQ1/2, SoR, SWG, UO, WAR, WoW
Yep I re-did the trial thing and read the screen.
I agree it's very unclear. You could also easily take that line to mean that you have to click continue to finish the setup.
For those that got billed, call your credit card company and ask them to reverse the charges due to an inadequate product/whatever. They'll bill SOE back and refund you your money, usually. You may need to fill out claim forms and fax them in to the CC though... It's a pretty painless process. I had to do it to get my money back from Horizons when they "accidentaly" billed me for 3 months of play after I had cancelled then refused to refund the money.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
Here is the actual text...
"Welcome to the subscription process. You are currently on a trial promotional subscription. If you would like to continue with your adventures, you will need to subscribe to a monthly subscription. CONTINUE"
So those that still insist that the message is perfectly clear and all the people posting here and on the official forum that are upset at being tricked are just stupid, can you help us? Please enlighten this stupid person and explain how the above message clearly states that subscribing ends your trial. I am so stupid I took the above message to mean that in order for me to continue my adventures I would need to subscribe to a monthly service. Not a problem I thought, I would subscribe then cancel before the 10 days is up. Good plan, except the not getting a trial part.
I contacted SOE and told them I wanted my 10 days. The game looks fun enough for me to play for a month so they can have the $15, but I want my 10 days also. They said they could not get me a refund. Umm.. I did not ask for a refund, I want my 10 days. Maybe SOE simply uses a different version of the English language then I do? That would explain the whole mess.
I emailed an acquaintance who is very high up in SOE about this.
IF I get a reply from them about it I'll let you know what they said. It's entirely possible they won't respond... but it was worth a try. We have traded email a few times in the past so there's a chance they'll at least respond... I've never broached something regarding an actual game complaint with them before... I may be straining the relationship too much. We're 'business' acquaintances.... not friends.... so I could have just cut off my contact by emailing.
I figured this was a big enough issue to break my rule to never mix 'business' with 'friendship' though. After all if this gets enough steam it could be really ugly for SOE. That screen really is very vague and I'm not sure they'd be able to prevent a class action suit if enough people got burned by it.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
They must be pretty desperate for cash to drop so low as to try to get $15 for trial people. Surely it can not be worth while for them to loose a customer of all their products for measly $15.
I always thought little of SOE, but this is the lowest yet.
** Reality.sys corrupted - Unable to start Universe **
Well,
My email paid off. My acquaintance in SOE got my email over to the Customer Services Manager for SOE and SOE Management is looking into the MxO Trial site to see what they can do to prevent this happening to anyone else. The email I received from them did not address anyone else's complaints but it might be worth giving SOE Customer Support a jingle and requesting a refund if you got burned by the trial.
Good luck...
Hello <snip to keep my real name out of this>,
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention - I will take a detailed look at the MxO trial process. I do apologize for the inconvenience.
<Personal note Snip>
Please let me know if there is anything else we could do to be of assistance.
Regards,
<SNIP to keep my POC nameless>
Sony Online Entertainment
And, yes, I know there will be those who will say I'm lying
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
I believe you. But SOE will not refund the cash they already charged. I have tried twice now and the only reply is - you selected to pay we wont refund:
1: We apologize for the inconvenience caused to you. But unfortunately it would not be possible for us to go ahead and refund the charges to you.
As you opted for 1 month subscription that was the reason you were charged for the subscription.
2: You registered the free Mxo trial game in to your account on 05/08/2006 . When you signed up for a trial mxo account, after entering the trial cd key you were prompted with the message that incase you upgrade your account from the trial version to full version, the credit card will be charged. By clicked on the "continue" button after this message and that is why you were charged and your free trial also ended. You were not supposed to do so. You should have played your trial game and then subscribed for the game, if you liked that.
This is what was message looks like :
"Welcome to the subscription process. You are currently on a trial promotional subscription. If you would like to continue with your adventures, you will need to subscribe to a monthly subscription.
CONTINUE"
It clearly states that you are currently in a trial subscription and if you want to subscribe to a monthly subscription, click continue. If you did not want to upgrade your trial key to full version game then you are not required to enter billing information.
However you have cancelled your game and can play till 06/07/2006 . After this date your game subscription will close and and you will need to re-subscribe if you want to play further.
Once again CLEARLY in SOE terms is obviously different than Clearly in my terms
** Reality.sys corrupted - Unable to start Universe **
I dunno how long it'll take to trickle down from on high but I know that a friend of mine who got burned got his refund.
Edit: Just got this from SOE in my email:
Looks like our platform group has filed the current behavior as a bug at my request (your email was a big help in getting this done,) so you can expect to see the "standard answer" from our CSRs change a bit.
Good luck gang. I would recommend being very clear that you were trying to use the free trial and filled out the credit card page by mistake when you call in for your refund... (By the way, they can tell if you actually were using the 'trial' setup or not).
PS: No, I don't work for SOE
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas